Food

The Grand Central Food Program (GCFP) was founded in 1985 the day after a homeless woman died of starvation in Grand Central Terminal. Since then, the program has grown to become the largest mobile soup kitchen in New York. Read more…

Crisis Services

The best way to reduce homelessness is to prevent it in the first place. The Coalition’s Eviction Prevention Program rescues those who have been pushed to the brink of homelessness by unforeseen hardships and limited resources. Read more…

Undiagnosed mental illness or physical disability is an invisible anchor for many homeless people — making it nearly impossible for them to get necessary help and find a way out of homelessness. The Coalition’s Client Advocacy Program (CAP), launched in 2001, reaches out to long-term street or shelter residents… Read more…

For the past 30 years, the Coalition’s Crisis Intervention Program has been a singular refuge, where anyone in New York who is homeless, on the brink of homelessness or struggling to survive can receive immediate help from our experienced staff. Read more…

Housing

More than a quarter of the 13,000 families living in homeless shelters have at least one person working full-time – and yet they still cannot afford the high cost of a market-rate apartment in New York City. Read more…

The catastrophe of homelessness is devastating for anyone, but for those living with HIV/AIDS, the lack of stable housing — and with it the ability to follow a complex health care regimen to decrease the risk of other illnesses — can be life-threatening. Read more…

For many homeless men and women, a sense of home no longer seems possible after living on the streets or in shelters for years. The isolation and rejection they face on a daily basis often damages their ability to trust. Read more…

Roughly 80 percent of those living in NYC homeless shelters are families — mostly single mothers and their children. These women face a tremendous array of obstacles to stability, including a lack of full-time employment, low educational attainment, and self-esteem shattered by domestic abuse. Read more…

Youth Programs

Homelessness takes a terrible toll on children. Many experience problems in their health, social development and education later in life as a result of the traumas they’ve endured. To help homeless girls and boys overcome… Read more…

Bound for Success (BFS) provides one-one-one tutoring, as well as sports and recreation, to 30 homeless children at a time — upwards of 100 girls and boys over the course of the year. Every day after school… Read more…

Advocacy

The Coalition’s Advocacy advances sensible long-term solutions to the crisis of homelessness and defends the rights of homeless New Yorkers.

Impact Litigation

The Coalition’s trailblazing impact litigation, Callahan v. Carey, established the legal right to shelter for homeless adult men in New York City and was the first crucial step in creating a safety net for our homeless neighbors. Since then, the Coalition has won a string of legal victories including extending the right to shelter to women and families; securing protective services for homeless children; requiring medically appropriate housing for people living with HIV/AIDS; and ensuring the right to vote for New Yorkers without homes. Read more about the Coalition’s legal victories.

Research and Analysis

The Coalition is the most trusted and credible source of information about homelessness in New York and is relied upon by elected officials, academics, service providers, the press and the general public. Our annual State of the Homeless report has for years been used as the benchmark to gauge the City’s success or failure in addressing the catastrophe of homelessness. Visit the Coalition’s full advocacy library.

Organizing and Shelter Monitoring

The Coalition serves as the court-appointed monitor of the homeless shelter system for single adults, and maintains a constant presence in the shelters to assess conditions and advocate on behalf of residents. However, we believe that the most effective advocates for the homeless are homeless people themselves, and so we launched the Client Advisory Group (CAG), a group of roughly 40 shelter residents who meet bi-monthly in our offices to discuss issues of concern that they themselves have identified. Read more about CAG. Learn how to become a shelter monitor.

Public Education

The Coalition believes that New York is at heart both a compassionate and practical city. By helping the general public and policymakers fully understand the reasons for – and solutions to – the current crisis of homelessness, we are confident that New Yorkers will join us in fighting for the proven, humane and cost-effective housing-based solutions to homelessness. Read the latest news. Join us as an Advocate and stay updated on all important developments.

Cheat Sheet

Homelessness in NYC: The Facts

Tonight, more than 60,000 New Yorkers will sleep in homeless shelters, the most since the Great Depression.

Roughly 80% of those in shelter are families, including more than25,000 kids.